Impact of Western Culture in Bangladesh Essay

The following research report deals with the Impact of western culture in our society includes people’s thought according their age level, how the Bengali culture is becoming a westernized and which factors are related with that. We took only Dhaka city for our research survey. Acknowledgement First of all we would like to thank our Almighty God, because of His blessings were always with us so that we were able to complete this report.We are grateful to many people for providing us encouragement and support during our learning and working while making this report and we want to show our gratefulness to these people.We are very much grateful to Prof.Toufiqul Islam, our teacher of Research & Methodology course, who provided us opportunity to do this report. It was not possible for us to perform this report without his sincere permission, constant support and inspiration. We express our gratefulness to him.Our pleasant thanks to all of our respondents who gave us all kinds of support and important information related to our report. We would also like to thank our friends and peers for their encouragement, support, and suggestions which helped us to make this report an effective one. 1. Introduction Bangladesh is a melting pot of races. She, therefore, has a mixed culture. However, her deep rooted heritage is amply reflected in her architecture, literature, dance, drama, music and painting and also in people’s lifestyle. She has own Language Bengali which boasts a rich literary heritage. Now if we speak about Western culture, it is a wide range of culture that performed by the whole world. Now-a-days this culture is highly spreading in our country and people are paying their interest into western culture by the help of globalization.Mostly the young generations and highly aristocratic families are very much influenced by western culture which holds negative impact on our own culture. So, we have to make clear consciousness to the community for making strong cultural bond and better society. From that sense, it is necessary to take a research about the impact of Western culture in our society. And, we believe that the following research report will help to find out the conclusion with valuable recommendation. 1.1 Basic of the study Bangladeshi culture is influenced by three great religions- Hinduism, Buddhism band Islam in successive order, with Islam having the most pervading and lasting impact. Like a colorful montage, the cultural tradition of the country is a happy blending of many variants, unique in diversity but in essence greatly symmetrical. On the other hand, Western culture began in Ancient Greece. Today, Western culture has at least some presence in nearly all nations of the world. It does not currently exist, however, anywhere in a perfect and complete form. Western culture currently dominates in many Western and Central European nations and several nations settled by Europeans and their descendants. Western culture also significantly exists in many Asian nations, such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, and it is increasingly influential in India and China. Western culture currently has little meaningful presence also in Bangladesh. [4] In this research report we choose Dhaka city as for many reason like shortage of time, also we live in this city so it is quite easy for our study, besides as Dhaka city is the capital of Bangladesh and most aristocratic family live in this city. So it is also easy to know about people’s thought on our topic. 1.2 Background of the study From the historical perspective, Bangladeshi culture has rich literary heritage. The riverside landscape and the monsoon climate are closely related to the cultural practices of this country. It focuses the lifestyles and culture value of the indigenous people. From the earlier age, people give value and maintain social customs which are in our culture. However, people are now following some of the western cultures beside their own one. Mostly, the young generation is very much interested on English movies, western music, dresses, foods and other things rather than Bengali culture. Now, young generation and even also middle age people are not that much conscious about Bengali culture because of the globalization. In this way, Bengali culture is now no more originated by own culture, even it is losing her own value. In this research, we collect opinions about the impact of western culture from people by field survey. 1.3 Importance of the topic For our research, we choose ‘The Impact of Western culture In Our Society’ as our topic for its importance on the effect of cultural globalization (which means the commercialization of culture). Now a day’s the production and consumption of cultural goods and services has become commodities, along with the essentials of social life (marriage and family life, religion work and leisure). What once was an element of the way of life becomes a product, rather than something unique men had made to suit their own needs and circumstances. In urban Bangladesh, technology of multi- channels TV began in 1991 and hence satellite broadcasting has been delivering ‘lots of channels to viewers’. Cultural domination by electronic media within the society thus has eventually become a major concern of sociological inquiry. The present study is one of such effort to look at how the urban people, mostly youth has accepted and responded to their access to Western culture. [3] 1.4 Literature Review In this part we found some of the information which is discussed in different articles and reports relevant to our topic. Even though many book focused about the impact of western culture and how people are taking it besides their own one without any hesitation. After reviewing different sources, we just focus on ‘The Impact of Western Culture in Our Society’ from three different angles. These are: †¢ Impact of cultural Globalization. †¢ Positive impact of westernization. †¢ Negative impact of westernization. Impact of socio – cultural Globalization Now a day’s every country in this world is treated as village, you can imagine whatever you can. That’s the way people are communicate easily to each other make things differences. Globalization has only one overarching feature–integration. It is all about collectiveness and ever increasing interconnectedness. It in effect influences everything, whether it is a company or a country. But here is a fact, is globalization all the way keeps help to connect to each other or build a strong communication in â€Å"borderless world†? If it is a question, then how it impacts in our society as well as in our culture? The Cable television has made different attraction in around the world as well as in Bangladeshi household. Foreign movies have come and have reflected their culture in it. This has made a huge impact on the minds of the Bangladeshi people. Not to mention the easy availability of Internet whose reach even extends till rural areas? The internet has opened up opportunities for people to learn more about foreign cultures and places. It has made Bangladeshi more acceptable and open-minded towards change. Globalization has broken all borders. As a result, the new generation of Bangladeshi is more knowledgeable, more aware and more interested in the world around them. In our society, women who were once the exploited and ignored part of the population, now assert their rights of being a woman. Women now have more access to education and know more about their rights and their identity as a woman. Nowadays, you find women in the society who work alongside men. Men-dominated fields see the coming up of the woman. Men and women are slowly being treated equally. However, this does not mean that all Bangladeshi women are fully free. In many places, exploitation still continues. [5] Positive impact of westernization Due to globalization, westernization is spreading out all over the world. Westernization has been placed in different countries because of globalization and needless to say, it has had an impact on the Bangladesh way of life. It has out-rooted the traditional Bengali culture and the rate at which westernization is happening to Bangladesh is surprising. Regional languages are on the process of redefined. In many ways instating of regional language people have been used to English especially in urban areas youngsters. It had started get fixing with western clothing, western languages, western mannerisms and everything else westernized. Beside, the festival of Pohela Baishak, people is now celebrating like other western cultural festivals especially in young groupsuch as- †¢ Valentine’s Day, †¢ Friendship Day, †¢ Mother’s day, †¢ Father’s day. †¢ And other international celebrations. Now a day people are concern about how we think about globally, what the other country are doing in their cultural issue, just we observe and absorbing them. There is lot of issues that we automatically know about it; even he/she has a little knowledge about westernization. But, people are moving with it in all the way. Negative impact of westernization At the side of the positive, Bangladeshi people are involving day by day with negative activities which our own culture because of following western culture. However no matter have occurred by this way, what people are doing in our society. With Globalization and westernization of our culture, Bangladesh now has access to things like adult movies, pornographic material, sex toys and other sexual content from all around the world especially in young group of people. Bangladeshi’s population has been corrupted thanks by easy access which has been brought about by westernization. In fact, this has gone to such limits that now pornographic material is even made in Bangladesh also. These perverted habits have raised a population who sometimes are so full of hunger for that they choice to rape. It is a fact that rape cases have risen since the spread of globalization. So that, western dress is another factor that creates an imbalance in our society especially for woman group (whenever girls wear a shirt, t-shirt, and pant in our society, due to feel or sensation of comfortable) which does not permit within our culture as majority of Muslim nationality. For wearing that kind of dresses men are mostly thinking in negative sense. In a view of culture, how and from which cases we are thinking that Bengali culture becomes westernized, for that we assume several other questions which are listed below, †¢ Why we think about westernization? †¢ Is westernization needed to fulfill our Bengali culture? †¢ To identify what kind of differentiations within peoples thought about westernization from different age level? †¢ What are the options available for Bangladesh? The previous findings have reported results on the western culture effect on urban youth generation in our society. However, according to above mentioned circumstances, the present study takes the initiative to conduct an empirical investigation based on the impact of western culture in our society includes people’s thought according their age level, how the Bengali culture is becoming a westernized and which factors are related with that. The findings from this study will work as a valuable guideline to give respect our own culture and to be a wholesome Bangladeshi. 1.5 Objectives of the study The main objective of this study is to focus on the impact of western culture based on different age level and build up the awareness about the negative sides among Bangladeshi people. According to our objectives we have decided that we will give our full attention and also we will be very active and patience to survey our research. In this way, we can fulfill our research successfully with a bunch of information. 2. Research Method For conducting our research, we implement research methods that directly related to our topic which indicates the core information about a research and explains how that information is correlated. In our research method we include study material, data collection method and data analysis method which help to go our research result and discussion section. For this part we will fulfill some specific requirements,  ¬ Describe procedure as completely as possible so that someone can’t duplicate it completely  ¬ Define sample and characteristics, which is consistent throughout the test.  ¬ List the variables used these are what change, or manipulate, throughout the test.  ¬ Try to precise criticism which might arise from readers mind. 2.1. Study Materials In this part, we consider study materials from people thought. That’s why, we define sample into three categorized way and taking out specific data from different age class people. Three age class: Age 18-30 (class 1); Age 31-45(class 2) and Age 45+ (class 3) For doing this part effectively we collect data from different age level and clarify about the variation of their thoughts about western culture beside Bangladeshi culture. Class 1: Most of the Class 1 people are student and some of them are service holder. It is very much easy to clarify their thoughts into short period of time. Class 2: In our class 2, most of the people are service holder and they are in middle age. Class 3: Finally last group is class 3 and people are no more in their job or involved in other social activities, basically people are staying with their family, but still we found that some them are even also involved with their job. 2.2. Methods of Collection Data Data collection process is crucial process in research report, if the process is biased or incomplete then it’s very difficult to analyze the data and it decreases quality of report. For our research purpose we get information from both two type of data collection source one is primary data and another one is secondary data. Primary data: Primary data indicates the core information about the topic and data collected from field survey work. There are different types of survey like, We make a structured questionnaire, which has been attached in the Appendix- 1 of this paper. This questionnaire is for three age level people and we give it to them like who is mostly able to read and understand what we are really wants. In this survey types, responder give their opinion about our topic in written and multiple choice form. For this part we take total sixty samples (each class 20 samples) as our core requirement. 2.3. Methods of Analyzing Data In this part we analyze the collected data from our survey- questionnaire. Here, we represent those data by graph, chart and table which is called frequency counting data. However, in case of qualitative data we take observation method. We collect our samples and put it them into a quantitative form so that we represents it as a percentage form. 3. Result, Discussion & Findings To complete this part we consider several item to measure our determine information. All we know that cultural issue is very diverse concept which contains many ideas that indicates different type of individual characteristics. So that here we show some of those issue that indicate cultural aspect directly and by conducting a questionnaire survey we found some answer of specific data that might indicate and fulfill our main objectives. Due to presenting our result and discussion, we work with three different age scale of people which was define in earlier part and want to indicate the variation of preference between each class. Here, we identify our final result in percentage form and firstly we collect appearance from responders, add responder’s number (total sample 60) and make it as percentage form indicates what percentage people are positively responses our questions. After that add up all the heads percentage make it as average percentage point out how many people are positive about western culture. Firstly we want to know from responders’ western culture in general way. By asking those responders give their individual opinion about general requirements. In the first part of questionnaire following heads are included. Table1: Western Culture in responders mind in general Depending on above information we assume that by a simple calculation (average) of those data and show as it a percentage form. So that Bengali people now think about western culture from basic perspective approximately 39%. It means that they are positively given their opinion regarding western culture in our culture. And other way 61% responders gave non- positive responses which indicate might they prefer positive as Bengali culture. In different region different kind of cultural views and life style are followed. It seems to if one country’s positive thought is appreciate it might the negative for another country. So that we collect sample in a way that really Bengali people are absorbing WC day by day. Table2: Views and lifestyle preference in responders mind Sources: A survey conducted for this research in July, 2010 This table indicates four different view of western culture in our people. We select this heads to find out how many people intentionally or unintentionally belief WC views and lifestyle. Firstly in class1 60%, class2 30% and class3 25%, and also in total sample 38% people prefer nuclear family rather extended family, where most of WS has nuclear family. Another most important in our marriage system which one we prefer, from our cultural view mostly prefer arrange marriage. But in our survey class1 60%, class2 70% and class3 20%, and also in total sample 50% people are appearance with love or affair marriage. Similarly class1 80%, class2 90% and class3 90%, and also in total sample 87% people support with husband and wife have to live together. And also class1 55%, class2 35% and class3 10%, and also in total sample 34% people usually celebrate western festival beside their own one. Graph.B: Views and lifestyle preference in responders mind Now here we represent a chart indicate 52% people are support western culture values and fixing up in their mind. People are no more in our traditional culture by origin; day by day it changes and will changes in next generation. And other way 48% responders gave non- positive responses which indicate might their belief in Bengali traditional value. Bangladeshi people are now a day’s changing their behavior and habit in food, dress and other activities also. Easily converted to western ideas some cases it makes a question mark in our ethical perspective also. We referred those western materials by like fast food is needed to minimize time consumption and also it’s comfortable for shot meal. Another thing, people like to wear western dress for fashion and for comfortable. Similarly now people are conscious about their health so that mostly younger are goes to gym even middle aged people also. Sources: A survey conducted for this research in July, 2010 Here in this table represents to how many people are preferred with western tests and habit. We indentify people’s individual test, preference and habit in their regular life. Representing four head define how many people positively response our concerns. Firstly in class1 30%, class2 0% and class3 0%, and also in total sample 10% people prefer fast food in their regular meal. Another thing is in class1 55%, class2 45% and class3 10%, and also in total sample 37% people prefer western dress in their dress code. In class1 50%, class2 60% and class3 85%, and also in total sample 65% people regularly maintain their religious activities. And last one is in class1 75%, class2 25% and class3 15%, and also in total sample 38% people now people now think about going to gymnasium for physical fitness exercise. Individual classes graph and chart are enclosed in appendix part. Graph.C: Personal tastes, preferences and habits of the respondents This chart indicates people’s day to day life that how many of them support western test and habit. Here we found there are 36% people are positively responds our specific questions and give their real interest on western culture by survey. And other way 64% responders gave non- positive responses which indicate might they prefer Bengali test and habit. From very beginning Bengali people might in some case restricted. Like people were not that much free or friendly with their parents. Another thing is mentally depends on parents and also relatives. But at present we see some positive idea which is really effective for us like easy relationship with parents, self dependency etc. Sources: A survey conducted for this research in July, 2010 This table shows that, in class1 70%, class2 65% and class3 50%, and also in total sample 62% people think very easy relationship with parents. Another thing is in class1 10%, class2 30% and class3 65%, and also in total sample 35% people prefer self dependency due to mentally support. And in class1 55%, class2 30% and class3 10%, and also in total sample 32% people like to enjoy any occasion with friends. Graph.D: Relationships with parents, siblings and peer groups of the respondents Above graph shows responders relationship status between family, friends or siblings. Here we found 43% responders support of very easy relationship, self dependency and celebrate occasion with friends. And other hand 57% responders non- positively responds, meaning to say they prefer other status for their relationship, like not so easy relationship with parents, mentally depends on parents and also family belongingness. Finally we found that, people as responders now consider western culture. Approximately half of our total responders support with it. From the positive point of view day by day people absorbing western cultural values, sometimes its brings a good for our society. But on the other hand it diminishing our own cultural vale which nobody wants, so that we have to concern our cultural issues as much as possible and which one is good we have to must take it and also avoid bad thing that brings imbalance in our culture. †¢ Observation For this research we need to take observation method for getting more information. By our observation, we found that, in case of Muslim family, an older woman embarrassed over and is desperately trying to avoid eye contact in TV screen, blazing loud music on the popular music video channel, MTV. The inadequately dressed presenter introduces her ‘top song’ for the week. A star celebrity dressed in so very little and exposed herself as much as possible. The old woman’s son is captive by what he sees. He pays no attention to his mother, young wife or even his own little son also. In this way, Children are involving some bad works which derived from western culture particularly from cable connection at their home. In some cases, young generation forget to respect their elder one. In our field survey, we observe that, boys and girls are very much interested on going to DJ party at different night club. And, sometimes they want to live together before marriage which is extremely prohibited by our culture. Boys are using Tattoos on their body also. The present scenario of Bangladeshi culture like as in this diagram we show that, western stuffs like shirt, pant, music and festivals are now mixing with Bengali’s traditional stuffs. 4. Limitation of study To conduct this research we had some limitations, first of all it should be mentioned that we are beginning level of researcher and the topic was controversial as it holds both positive and negative impact in our society according to people’s perception. As there was time limitation, we cannot collect sufficient data and samples relating to our topic which is very difficult stuff to fulfill the analyzing of samples. While working for this report we found there was not available data related with our topic to get assistance from the internet, books, articles, research papers to make a well furnished literature review and secondary sources. As a result, it took a lot of time to gather information from other sources. 5. Conclusion and Recommendation Eventually, it can be concluded that, this research has found a lot of significant issues that is Western culture is not a curse to our society but it can bring a lot of negative effects. We must understand that the young generations are the future image of our country. So, it is necessary to enlighten them about our own cultural values which will make our nation proud. In Bangladesh perspective, since it is the one of very few and one way concentration on the impact of western culture. I hope that this thesis contains the groundwork of further research, which may find useful tools considering the probable findings in the long run. No study has been done at before. However, for doing this research we used our best analysis and tried to make the research as full proof but due to short sample, we cannot recommend it as full proof. That’s why, we want to recommend for further modification as we believe that research is a never ending process.

Keeping the Good Ones

Training employees will lead to increased productivity and better outcomes. Therefore, it is necessary to treat team members as people first and as employees second. It will motivate their engagement in work and interest in outcomes. Actually, staff training will inspire employees and provide them with necessary practical tools in order to keep the good people the company already has. The core principles of successful management are:To offer yourself (director, senior manager) as a person firstly and director secondlyTo offer time with a regular take 10 check-inTo offer motivation and appreciationIt is known that companies spend lots of capital investments in tomorrow’s leaders without paying attention to today’s employees. It is suggested that money is the main reason of departures. Nevertheless, it is not. Money plays important part, though this part is minor compared with other factors. Motivation based only on material awards is insufficient, although lack of money is also a de-motivator.So, there is not need to throw money after employee who is unhappy, because it will create an unhappy employee who is better off financially. It is necessary to outline that variety of factors exist to motivate employees. Therefore, motivation should be intrinsic. There is not single method to motivate all the employees at once. Motivation depends on each employee. Directors should understand these principles, if they want to develop leaders. Otherwise, directors will serve only corporate ambitions of leading competitors.The first key is to build a better culture. If a company wants to retain its employees in whom it has invested capital, time and relationships, it has, firstly, to provide improvements of corporate structure. It s required to look at corporate hierarchy culture – vertical or horizontal. Vertical structure results in decreased communication, less employees’ empowerment and general decrease in commitment, whereas horizontal structu re does the opposite meaning it aims at decreasing friction and power struggles between employees and senior management.Horizontal structure tends to ensure higher visibility and accountability. The next step is to improve employee commitment and communication mechanism. It is important to remember that to improve the quality of employees’ life means to ensure better commitment and performance of the company.The second key is to empower employees. Actually, empowerment is a matter of discussion, though often this concept is misunderstood. It is proved that empowered employees are able to make quicker decisions, they are more confident in their abilities, etc. Thus, empowerment increases employee’s satisfaction and decreases corporate costs related to remediation work.Motivated employees are willingly engaged in innovations and problem-solving processes. The main benefit of empowerment is that it generates loyalty among employees. Therefore, empowered employees realize that their contribution is valued and they are respected.Finally, the third key is to improve relationship skills. It means that relationships within corporate culture may either make or break the company’s performance. Relationship and communication skills are vital component of corporate culture. The company’s managers and directors should display corporate personality traits such as sense of humor, family values, empathy, genuineness to motivate employees follow their example. People should be valued more then outcomes.Further, chief executives should be readily accessible and easily approached. It goes without saying that the better relationship skills among employees and directors, the better the corporate culture. Effective communication is playing nowadays one of the most important roles in organizations and companies, because it is the only source of mutual understanding among employees and customers, directors and suppliers, etc.ReferencesKeeping the Good Ones . (2001). Retrieved March 11, 2007, from http://mpcfilms.com

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Multicultural education scenario - Essay Example How multicultural education would be deemed as effective here totally depends on my undertakings. I would have to find out the exact ways through which their understanding of education would increase and make them feel comfortable with the studies at hand. This will propel them to attain education at their best and thus move ahead with the basics of their respective lives in a reasonable way. I would find out how they will be more effective than they are at the present, and thus offer them solutions which are based on pure logic and comprehension. For making them realize that education is the key to open any lock within their lives, I would ensure that education is instilled within them in a very hassle-free way, so is the case with the 4 students who are having special needs and have to bring in a great amount of hard work with each passing day of their lives. It is important to know that the children who hail from the poorest of backgrounds would have to be considered for their edu cation norms more than anyone else. They would have to be given the special emphasis which is direly required in this day and age. Within the aegis of the classroom, these students would be supported by encouragement and special efforts shall be made to let them get acquainted with the other students in the classroom as well. What remains important however is a vision to move ahead in life and find out about its different nuances through hard work, devotion and complete commitment coming to the fore. The types of activities that could be done within the classroom include the making up of groups which shall comprise of students from different backgrounds so that they have a better understanding and interaction levels with one another. This would set the ball rolling as far as their respective domains are concerned, and they would feel better at interacting with the ones who are present within their respective groups. Role-play could be deemed as one of the most looked after propositi ons within the activities that could be inculcated within the classroom understandings, and this shall pave the way for the future success of the classroom in the long run. Each group could allow the others (groups) to learn more because each of these would be able to bring in the very best with the changing activities that they have been offered with. The groups would therefore tie in the results with the comprehension that has been reached upon, as it will assist in a better understanding of how things shape up within their respective realms and how serious consideration should be paid towards realizing where the other group has derived its basis from, in the wake of reaching the desired results (Davis, 2007). The learning tangent is such an important one for the 21 students within this classroom setting because it teaches more than mere education; it makes them realize who they really are essentially. One of the most significant reasons behind preaching multicultural education li es in the fact that it does away with the ailment of stereotyping within the classroom. Nearly all of the students understand that stereotyping someone due to one’s diverse background or merely an ailment is not something which

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Family violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Family violence - Essay Example Elders undergo different forms of abuse including physical, psychological, sexual, material abuse and at times they risk being neglected. These forms of abuse may result to physical, emotional or behavior injury to the victim. According to Wallace & Roberson (2013), the most serious and common type of elder abuse is psychological abuse (p. 297). This form of abuse involves inflictions of pain and distress mostly through non-verbal act, example humiliating, intimidating or isolating the elderly. In many occasions, the victims may deny this form of abuse although he/she may feel deprived of family support or rejections resulting to the victim believing there is no reason of continuing living. This may lead to depression, neurotic disorders, anxiety or even the psychoneurotic behavior. At times, elders can fall victims of caretakers who may act as predators or those caretakers who have mental disorders that make them abusive. If the elders value their independence and are in a position to handle their affairs, they should not accept any form of abuse, intimidation or exploitation from their caretakers. Instead, as written by Wallace & Roberson (2013) they should take reasonable measures to protect themselves by seeking advice and powers from the attorney (p. 299). There are some institutions that ensure that the elderly live with dignity and are free from any type of abuse or exploitation. This will ease the challenges that they face during their old age. Stalking is a behavior involving repeated unwanted communication in a way that would cause fear and stress in people. There are many types of stalkers each being complex because of the varying reasons and time. According to Wallace & Roberson (2013), the victims of stalking are usually harassed or threatened with contact ranging from making calls or visiting the victim (p. 371). Zamu et al. established a database that clearly explains the different categories of

Communication observations from in class movie, THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE Assignment

Communication observations from in class movie, THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE (2009) - Assignment Example was like going to the same journey the actors went through where their sincere search to understand other people’s outlook in life brought them to their own realization. There was a somewhat strong connection between the audience and the actors portraying the role. However, this could be considered indirect communication since there was no personal interaction between the two elements. Second, it was the connection pattern between the two brothers to the people they met along their journey. It was true in its essence that a person should put himself to someone else’s shoe to truly understand the condition of others. What gave the main characters the most powerful realization they had at the end of the story was their personal â€Å"experience† living with the people who had less in terms of material possession yet abundant with reasons to be happy and grateful with life. This was more interpersonal in approach. Finally, it was the intrapersonal communication pattern. The most compelling message of the movie was the question the audience would end up asking themselves. Therefore, one could only find genuine happiness and satisfaction by searching within. What was good about the people others tend to see as less fortunate was that tend to be more grateful and they treasured the greatest blessing given to them despite material lack- ‘life†, itself. Inner joy and peace is that every individual could find within is also the greatest reason for anyone to have a deeper understanding and appreciation of life. It only needs to take a few minutes to ask ourselves and reflect on

Microsoft Corporation as an Example of a Monopoly Assignment

Microsoft Corporation as an Example of a Monopoly - Assignment Example The author of the paper states that as a protagonist of monopoly championed this practice for cartels as they maintain that its existence leads to an increase in the number of research and development projects as they earn more profits. Although, the companies operate solely in the market and get the high return it does not invest the funds for research and development. Microsoft Corporation as an example of a monopoly has not shown considerable investment in the field of research and development as thought (Jones and Sufrin 573). On the contrary, as a result of obtaining patent rights companies that operate under monopoly, including Microsoft do not have any incentives to innovate other new varieties of products that specialize in the one. Because of these, many countries impose a limit on the number of years companies can hold to their patent of rights (Salanià © 188).  Microsoft’s research and development is mainly because of its competitors but once these competitors wh o operate server operating system market stops Microsoft Company will also no longer see the benefit of carrying out more research and development as it has already come up with a lock-in effect strategy on its customers. Through this strategy, Microsoft can effectively engage its customers in homogenous solutions made by Microsoft worldwide. It is, therefore, definite that monopoly companies do not wish to spend the large amounts of profits it accumulates in research and development. Without a doubt, these monopoly companies would be adamant to produce only those products that are conducive and acceptable to the consumer rather than being innovative and make new products for its customers.

Human Resource Management, Reflective Report Essay

Human Resource Management, Reflective Report - Essay Example Thus, this writing is both a reflection of personal experience and also a processing phase where what I have learned during the semester is linked to the situation. The definition of social responsibility has evolved over time. "Concern for business to contribute towards social prosperity has always persisted since the days of Aristotle who reckoned the need for business to reflect the interests of the society in which their operations are based" (Masaka, 2008 as cited in Solomon, 1999). As learned in the lecture, in 1953, Howard Bowen describes it as "the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society" (Bowen, 1953 as cited in Barry). I can relate this level of social responsibility to what a particular book describes as "doing at least some good" (Kotler, 2005). I can say that it has evolved over time, with an ever increasing responsibility on the part of the corporation. In the 1990's, the definition was notches higher that just doing something good for the community. Carroll says that "CSR at its core, a ddresses and captures important concerns of the public regarding business and society relationships" (1999 as cited in Barry). ... This definition, for me is a more active one. And this reflects the greater responsbility being passed on to the business industry. This definition also regards employee improvement. Thus, corporations are expected to protect and further the good of their employees. Social responsibility is always associated with the ethical standard that the company upholds. "Ethics is the discipline that examines one's moral standard or the moral standard of the society. It asks how these standards apply to our lives and whether these standards are reasonable or unreasonable, that it whether they are supported by good reasons or poor ones" (Velasquez). There are various ethical theories: the teleologial, deontological, and virtue ethics. Theological philosophy "derives duty or moral obligation from what is good or desirable as an end to be achieved" while deontological philosophy "holds that the basic standard for an action's being morally right are independent of the good or evil generated" (Encyclopdia Britannica, 2010). Working at the Dubai World Trade Centre as a Sales Manager made me experience a violation of deontological ethics. My director is very hard to work with and she only wants people to work her way. She was always rude and arguing on everything which made me feel not confident at all and as a result I decided to move to another department. With the course lesson, I just realized that I made the right decision of leaving the department as my Director does not observe either corporate responsibility or ethics. I would only be consenting to her unethical behavior if I had decided to stay. I observe many companies who are only driven my the profit motive so that they ignore corporate responsibility: both to their employees and to the society. One

Psychology article summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Psychology article summary - Essay Example This is an important source of physiological stress for them because of the risk for dehydration. So the two experiments here rely on the toads sensitivity for detecting the composition of fluids around him and the stress it feels when conditions arent suitable for it- which leads to changes in both his heart rate and in its attempts to avoid these conditions and run away. Researchers therefore used an amount of sodium chloride which neither caused the toads to gain weight or loss weight, to create a "neutral" situation and then test their responses. A pilot experiment showed an increase in the heart rate of toads, which is important to set off their attempts to flee the environment. It used two solutions, one was good for the toads and the other wasnt. This technique was also good to evaluate the functional significance of conditioning (like in Pavlovs experiment with the dogs) in the context of water balance. During the experiment, researchers put the toads in Plexiglas cages, added water, changed the chemical composition of the water and lastly drained the tank. Toads were either put with another toad in the tank or placed there alone. There were mostly insignificant differences between the groups, but one significant find was that the toads placed with another toad in a tank learned to expect the reinforcement better. The toads showed learning abilities, as they anticipated the changes in water composition after it was done to them several times. Their anticipation could be witnessed by their increased heart rate. They managed to avoid losing weight almost as well as the toads never exposed to the different solution in the water. This experiment added another feature- an added compartment in the Plexiglas tank in which there was no altered solution. The toads could escape there to avoid being in contact with the solution. The results showed that all toads showed a consistent weight loss and did learn to avoid being in

Unemployment in America Essay Example for Free

Unemployment in America Essay Here is good news for you: according to the New York Times, the unemployment rate in America dropped to 7.7% which is the lowest rate in four years. But is this rate low enough? The answer is no. The labor market is far from recovery. There are around 11 million people who still need jobs. Throughout American history of unemployment, The United States has experienced 11 recessions since the end of the postwar period in 1948. The U.S. unemployment rate rose steadily from 5% in January 2008 to a peak of 10% in October 2009. For college students, when we graduate and are getting ready for the taste of the real world, we will find out that the real world is not easy and it is not always fair. Good jobs are very few and far between, especially during the high unemployment rate period. The reason we care about unemployment so much is because the unemployment has many bad influences. First, the unemployment has psychological consequence. According to the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues: the stress of unemployment can lead to declines in individual and family well-being. The burden of unemployment can also affect outcomes for children. The stress and depressive symptoms associated with job loss can negatively affect parenting practices such as increasing punishment. As a result, children report more distress and depressive symptoms. Second, the unemployment affects the social stability. The unemployment will result in low-quality housing, underfunded schools and lack of money, and all these factors can link to the increase in the property crime. The unemployment also causes the loss in consumer spending which is the significant driver of economic growth. The main reason of unemployment is the lack of demand. There are several reasons that cause the demand is less than supply. The first reason is high tax rate. Businesses need to pay more tax in America than many other countries, and if the costs that companies need to pay are too high, the companies may cut some jobs in order to reduce the training and wage costs. Since the tax costs and wage rates are very high in America, businesses may choose to move their companies to other countries, such as china and India, thus leading to huge amount of job loss in America. For example, the labor costs in China are much lower than in America, so if one business chooses to outsource some parts of the company, it will save lots of money, but decrease the potential job opportunities in America. Automation also affects the demand. The technology plays more and more important role nowadays; hence, people are placed by machines. For example, there are many self-check machines in groceries and airports, and these turn out the decreases in needs of jobs. In general, employment is still a big problem in America. The main reason for unemployment is the lack of demand. The unemployment has psychological and material influences for people, and it also affects the national economy and social stability. We all want jobs; we all want better lives. Job does not mean anything, but without a job, what can we do as college students? Not only for us, but also the family members and friends around us; we need chances to prove ourselves, and enjoy the life in the steady environment.

Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage

Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage 1. Introduction The question involving how minimum wage impacts employment remains among the most broadly studied as well as the most controversial topic in the labor economics, by a corresponding difference in the political domain. Minimum wage regulations are a perfect example of price control; price controls distort the quality of services and goods. And limit transaction volume in the market spot. In the scenario of minimum wage, costs are assumed to appear in the way of reduced output and employment; conversely, the gains accrue mostly to those who often retain their works at a relative high wage rate. Research findings have showed that minimum wages lessen the jobs vacant to low-skill workers. The potential advantage of imposing higher wages often comes from the greater wages for affected employees, and some percentage are in low-income or poor families. The potential shortcomings are that the higher minimum wage can discourage workers from utilizing the low-wage, low-skill employees that the minimum wage is anticipated to help. If in any case the minimum wages lessen employment of low-skill employees, then minimum wage is not a â€Å"free lunch† in which to help low-income and poor families, but as an alternative pose a tradeoff that is of benefit for several against costs for others. 2. Effects of the minimum wages on employment. According to Neumark and Wascher (1992), minimum wages lessens work for young adults and teens, with elasticity ranging from –0.1 to -0.2. Also, subminimum wages moderate misemployment effects. Conversely, some studies have shown that there is no direct relationship between minimum wages and employment, or even constructive effects. Card, Katz and Krueger (CKK) tries to reconcile these conflicting findings through challenging the results. Since study on minimum wages remains likely to affect policy decisions. Thus, the reconciling aspect is very vital. Imposing a minimum wage has contrasting effects on work creation. Though it lessens demand for labor through raising the marginal price of employing a fresh employee, a greater wage increases the gap between the expected employments to returns relative to unemployment, encouraging additional search effort, on unemployed employees. By aggregating the intensity of searching workers, the minimum wage increases the quality of competitions amongst employers and employees, thus generating the surplus. If employees extensive search effort significantly improves the employer firm match quality, then work creation may not be severely affected besides may even increase. Nonetheless, if the demand-side influence dominates, then raising the minimum wage causes declines in employment. 2.1 Pros of the effect of minimum wage on employment. Lots of low-wage, low-skill employees retain their jobs as well as earn higher salaries once minimum wages are amplified. Some research has not found that minimum wages result in fewer jobs. Living wage policies, for instance, those adopted by United States municipalities may help decrease poverty. In addition, targeted tax credit often does a great work of reaching the lowly than the minimum wages. 2.2 Cons of the effect of minimum wage on employment. Compelling evidence from various countries designates that imposing higher minimum wages leads to fewer jobs. Researchers that focus on unskilled employees find the stoutest evidence that imposing minimum wages lessens jobs. Low-paying jobs demanding level skills are jobs that are prone to decline with amplified minimum wages. In the United State, higher minimum wages does not help. 2.3 Discussion of cons and pros Studies of minimum wages depict an economic labor market, especially for a single job, through an upward-sloping curve of labor supply (S) plus a downward-sloping curve of labor demand (D). There is an impeccable equilibrium wage, w, as well as equilibrium quantity following labor employed, L. by a binding- minimum wage, mw that is greater than w, fewer employees are used, this is attributed to two reasons. First, employers subset away from the currently more expensive labor as well as towards other inputs for instance capital. Second, since costs are greater with this brand new input mix, product costs rise, which later lessens labor demand. As a result, these two effects lower employment- Lmw. Below is a graph of the effect of minimum wage on employment (Neumark Wascher, 2014). S Wage mw W D Lmw L employment The intersection of demand and supply curves defines the equilibrium real wage as well as the equilibrium level of the entire hours of work. When the prescribed legal minimum wage is beyond the equilibrium market clearance level, then the minimum is attributed to be binding. Thus, a minimum that is under the equilibrium market clearance level is not-binding besides has no significant impact on market equilibrium. Employers will often subset away less-skilled employees toward more-skilled employees following a minimum wage rise. This labor-labor replacement has inferences for the empirical indication of the employment influences of minimum wages., the employment decrease may not seem to be great, even if the misemployment effect among least-skilled employees is intense. There is a policy perspective stating that, the minimum wage is supposed to assist the least-skilled employees. If their employment lessens substantially, then the policy is self-defeating. 2.4 Evidence Some economist defines the impact of minimum wages by means of the employment elasticity: that is, the ratio of percentage change in employment to the percentage change in the legislated minimum wage. For instance, a 10% rise in minimum wage lessens employment of the unskilled and young workers by 1% if the elasticity is -0.1 as well as by 3% if elasticity is -0.3. Through the 1970s, most early researches on the effect of minimum wages on employment focused on the United States. These researches estimated the impacts of these changes in the country minimum wage on total employment of young persons, typically 16-19-year-olds or 16-24-years-olds, lots of who have very low skills. Later, the research showed that the elasticity for young employment clustered amongst -0.1 and -0.3 (Card Krueger, 2000). 3. How minimum wage reduces employment. Imposing minimum wages lessens the demand for inexperienced or skilled workers and young persons and upsurge the demand for other alternative resources, for instance, skilled workers. If at any point skilled employees are in inadequate supply, for example, when a union regulates entry into the market, thus their wages will rise significantly since the demand for their skilled services expands. Diffuse as well as poorly organized individuals of unskilled employees who lose their works, or new candidates to the labor market who do not acquire jobs, appear to bear the utmost costs. These groups may be unaware of the various sources of their challenges. Even if they are aware, their concern is moderated by a wide-ranging system of government well-being benefits (Card Krueger, 1994). An approximate of two-third researches reviewed approximated that, imposing minimum wage hides undesirable effects on employment. Only eight of the studies found desirable employment effects. 28 of the most credible studies pointed to undesirable employment effects. These comprised research on Colombia, Mexico, Canada, United State, Costa Rica, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In particular, the researchers focusing on unskilled employees find solid evidence of misemployment effects, with impact larger or near the consensus range of the United States data. Conversely, few-if-any-studies offer convincing evidence of desirable employment impact of minimum wages. Some economists, for instance the CKK group, criticizes these findings into five areas, enrollment rates in schools, the specification of minimum wage variables, the measurement of coverage rate, evidence of utilization of subminimum wages and the role of protected minimum wage effects. In enrollment rates, CKK raises the query, whether regression equations normally used to approximate minimum wage effects may include supply variables. They argue that, if at any case the minimum wages are not-binding for every of the observation of a data set, thus the supply variables may help determine employment. They argue that, it is partial evidence the eliminating school enrollment rates from employment equation is misspecification, then misemployment impacts of minimum wages are supposed to be stouter for teens as compared for young grown-ups, conversely, these holds only if the enrollment rate is incorporated. Besides, CKKs claim that the enrolment rate is usually plus measurement error and is refuted by the sum of enrollment rate, moreover, employment rate is significantly connected to minimum wages as well as other labor market environments. More practically, there is a sizeable proportion of persons neither employed nor in school, besides this proportion is systematicall y negatively associated with minimum wages. They also note that, the assessments for younger adults is not sensitive to definition of enrollment rate, as well as that estimates correcting potential endogeneity of various enrollment depicts negative minimum wage impact on both young adults and teenagers specifications (Neumark Wascher, 2000). CKK criticize the traditional economists coverage rate on the basis that it does not measure coverage of young adults by state and federal minimum wage laws. The presented evidence that a rise in coverage in 1985 for government sector employees did not end in employment regressions relative to trend, that they interpret as proof that their coverage measure is faulty, or the minimum wages have nil effect. Nevertheless, they claim that this is a bad experiment, due to the following reasons; The real worth of minimum wage was decreasing over this period. Government sector employment of young people is considerably low, and It seems unsuitable to assess this competitive model of minimum wages by using workers working in the public sector. Furthermore, regressions at the national level, regulating for other variables that impact employment, and not limited to this specific coverage rise, it also indicates that greater coverage is related to the lesser employment of young people. 3.0 Possible Channels For the average the lowest pay permitted by law build, one or a greater amount of these option channels of alteration whether they are identified with gainfulness builds, cuts in benefits, diminishments in profit of higher workers, higher costs to purchasers, or different components must adapt to what are moderately little aggregate expense expands, when communicated as either an offer of the aggregate wages paid to the lowest pay permitted by law laborers or as an offer of the aggregate wages paid to all specialists. Reduction in hours met expectations The lowest pay permitted by law does not raise the expense of enlisting specialists – it raises the expense of employing an hour of work performed by those laborers. Indeed, even inside the aggressive structure, businesses may decide to react to a lowest pay permitted by law increment by diminishing specialists hours, rather by decreasing the aggregate number of laborers on finance. Reductions in preparing Another channel of conformity predictable with the aggressive structure is the likelihood that bosses may diminish their uses on occupation preparing for low-wage specialists. The exact confirmation is not decisive. In their survey of the late research on the lowest pay permitted by law and preparing, Neumark and Wascher (2007) compose: Summing up the greater part of the proof on preparing, we can just infer that the confirmation is blended. Our own particular research has a tendency to discover negative impacts of least wages on preparing; however the majority of the other late research discovers little proof of an impact in either bearing. Higher costs Executives may react to a higher the lowest pay permitted by law by going on the added expenses to buyers as higher costs. In a simply aggressive economy, where all organizations are encountering the same increment in the process of childbirth expenses in light of a lowest pay permitted by law increment, monetary hypothesis predicts that at any rate a part of the expense increment will be gone through to purchasers. â€Å"Productivity wage reactions from specialists A higher the lowest pay permitted by law might likewise spur laborers to work harder, autonomously of any activities by businesses to build gainfulness. As per productivity wage hypothesis, compensation over the aggressive business rate may evoke more prominent work exertion for a few reasons. As Card Krueger (1994) have contended, higher boosts in compensation the expense to laborers of losing their employment, conceivably prompting more prominent exertion from specialists with a specific end goal to diminish their possibilities of being terminated. Card David(2000), contending from a more sociological perspective, has proposed that specialists may see higher wages as a blessing from bosses, driving laborers to respond by meeting expectations harder. 3.1 The Katz index CKK contend that the typical coverage-adjusted relative wage variable used for most minimum wage researches is faulty since it is inversely correlated with young adults’ wage. However, the inverse correlation amongst the comparative minimum wage variable besides young-adult wage aligns suitably with the Katz index. For instance, if the nominal minimum wage was static, a fitting minimum wage variable ought to decline. If the mean young adults’ wage increases, because the actual worth of the minimum wage decreases. Therefore, the better test of Katz index is if it is directly correlated with the relative value of young-adult work and whether this direct correlation shoots from variations in minimum wage coverage. Therefore, the Katz index fulfills these conditions. CKK also state that retrogressing employment figures on minimum wage coverage, somewhat than on minimum salaries compared to wages of elder workers, delivers better estimations of minimum wage impacts, and they illustrate that such estimations are positive. Although, the main misemployment impact of minimum wages will probably result from the replacement of elder, higher-wage employees for younger, less-wage employees, and the applicable price driving this replacement is the relative cost of these kinds of labor. Furthermore, utilizing nominal minimum wage characteristic does not capture variations in the minimum wage linked to variations in the nominal mean young-adult wage, and indirectly adopts that labor demand curve disrupts standard homogeneity norms. Since, the data are mainly unhelpful with respect to the precise specification of minimum wage variable. 3.2. Lagged Minimum Wage Effects CKK also address analysis of Cards (1992) research that uses the regional difference to research on minimum wage impacts. Particularly, it is argued that the existence of lagged minimum wage impacts biases the one-year first-difference approximations away from discovering misemployment effects. CKK state that by using two-year variances do not change the results. They point out, that using two-year variances is not same as presenting lags. And they show that, two-year differences obscure lagged Undesirable minimum wage effects. 3.3 Subminimum Wage Usage CKK enquiries the conclusions concerning subminimum wages. They accrue that their plots of the wage circulation recording usage of subminimum salaries are misleading since the five-cent range is used as compared to exact figures. Nevertheless, the evidence recommends that this procedure do not give the unambiguous impression since maximum CPS respondents report hourly wage rates and are multiples of 5 cents. Conclusion While low wages lead to the direct financial straits of numerous poor as well as low-income People, the dispute that a greater minimum wage is a desirable way to increase their economic conditions is not reinforced by the evidence. Mainly, a greater minimum wage often discourages employers from utilizing the very low-wage, unskilled employees that the minimum wage is intended to help. References Card, David and Krueger, Alan B., â€Å"Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Reply,† American Economic Review, December 2000, 90, 1397-1420, http://www.nber.org/papers/w6386 Card, David, Katz, Lawrence F. and Krueger, Alan B., â€Å"Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data on State Minimum Wage Laws: Comment,† Industrial and Labor Relations Review, April 1994, 47, 487-96, http://www.nber.org/papers/w4528 Neumark, David and Wascher, William L., â€Å"Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data on State Minimum Wage Laws,† Industrial and Labor Relations Review, October 1992, 46, 55-81, http://www.nber.org/papers/w3859 Neumark, David and Wascher, William L., â€Å"Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data on State Minimum Wage Laws: Reply,† Industrial and Labor Relations Review, April 1994, 47, 497-512, http://www.nber.org/papers/w4570 Neumark, David and Wascher, William L., â€Å"Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Comment,† American Economic Review, December 2000, 90, 1362-96, http://www.nber.org/papers/w5224 Neumark, David and Wascher, William L., â€Å"Minimum Wages and Employment,† Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics, 2007, 3(1-2), 1-182,http://www.nber.org/papers/w12663 Neumark, David, Salas, J. M. Ian and Wascher, William L., â€Å"More on Recent Evidence on the Effects of Minimum Wages in the United States,† NBER Working Paper No.20619, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, October 2014, http://www.nber.org/papers/w20619?utm_campaign=ntwutm_medium=emailutm_so the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania,† American Economic Review, September 1994, 84, 772-93, http://www.nber.org/papers/w4509urce=ntw

Future of Cars Essay -- Technology Vehicle Essays

Future of Cars Vehicles have been around Europe and the United States since the late 19th century. Henry Ford was the first person to produce inexpensive vehicles quickly and was the one to start Ford Motor Company. Ford vehicles, as well as many other vehicle companies, have caused people to think differently as to how to travel from one place to another in an efficient manner. From its inception to today, vehicles have changed dramatically. We as drivers feel having the new features or advanced technology in our vehicles is considered unique, especially if it’s under our ownership. Many engineers who currently are working on producing and designing vehicle models have brought new features, that will appear soon in one of America’s popular cars. Recently, an article in Forbes magazine titled â€Å"Wired Wheels† by John Turrettini discusses digital technology stored somewhere in the vehicle. The placement of the new digital technology is dramatic for the driver, since the person at the wheel will not have the authority to brake when they feel there is a need. Drivers will need to understand the functions of the new digital technology installed in their vehicle. They also must be aware of the changes that will occur for them. While we are behind the wheel, we have control of where we are going and when to stop, but when it comes to having new technology designed into our vehicles, we want to know how it will work also. First, we know when to stop, for stop signs, or preventing an accident with a person or an object. Our minds are thinking of when to brake and how to react when we do it. We immediately avoid an accident by steering around it or braking or stopping in time. Engineers who work in the auto industry are experi... ...hicles in the next 10 years. The time might not be far off from now when vehicles will have the brake by wire, but in the meantime we will can depend on the development, the accuracy for the brake by wire to work effectively, and of course we will saving money for these high tech vehicles because I’m sure future vehicles involving the brake by wire technology will be costly. Works Cited Turrettini, John. â€Å"Wired Wheels.† Forbes Aug. 6, 2001: 84-85. Sallee, Debbie, and Ross Bannatyne. â€Å"Trends in Advanced Chassis Control†. Automotive Engineering International Sept. 2001: 30-32. Ballesteros, Juli. â€Å"TRW Drives Steer-By-Wire.† Sept. 17, 2001. http://www.inmedia.it/published/20010915/2001091516329.shtml (24 Nov. 2001). Gross, Ken. â€Å"The Tricky Side of Technology†. Automotive Industries. 2001. http://www.ai-online.com/articles/1001/gross.asp (26 Nov. 2001)

Why Can’t We Be More Like Canada? :: Essays Papers

Why Can’t We Be More Like Canada? The National Rifle Association has gone too far in defending the right to bear arms because the safety of schools is in jeopardy. The tragic events that occurred at Columbine High School in early 1999 with the killing of 13, including 12 students and one teacher while wounding many more, put much greater focus and awareness on violence in schools. The upward trend of violence in schools beginning in the early 1990’s got national attention because of the shootings that took place just outside of Denver. The tragedy at Columbine seemed to be the last straw for anti-gun activists, politicians, the media, and parents of children in schools to take action to protect America’s young from death in a place where kids are supposed to be safe. The NRA is not stepping back from their fight to protect the second amendment, but changes need to be made to protect kids growing up in society today. School violence, especially school shootings, has kept pace in recent years since the Columbine shootings. According to the National School Safety and Security Services there have been 116 total deaths in the past 5 years that occurred in schools. Of the 116, 45 have been caused by shootings. Just within the past three months of this new school year, there have been 13 school shooting deaths (fig. 1 and 2). That is an average of nine deaths caused by guns per year for the last five years since Columbine startled society to this devastating problem. The obstacle is in front of all of American to have the incidents of shooting deaths in schools decrease to where they are non-existent. In the state of Colorado, where the world’s media attention was drawn due to Columbine and still is, they have some of the loosest guns laws in the nation. A fact sheet was released by the Violence Policy Center on the same day as the shooting at Columbine High School for some related background information. The press release shows that citizens of Colorado do not have licensing or registration requirements with firearm purchase or possession. There is no waiting period for the purchase of handguns, shotguns, or rifles. There are no age restrictions with the possession of rifles or shotguns, but no person under the age of 18 can have a handgun.

Claudia Jones and Ella Baker :: Essays Papers

Claudia Jones and Ella Baker On Christmas day 1964, Claudia Jones, only forty-nine years old, died alone in her London apartment. Over three hundred people attended her funeral on January 9, 1965 to commemorate the woman who spent her entire adult life agitating against oppression. â€Å"Visitors who come to London’s Highgate Cemetery see that next to the grave of Karl Marx there is the tombstone of Claudia Jones. Many wonder what earned her the honour of being buried beside the founder of scientific communism.† [1] On the other side of the globe, Ella Baker, a leading African-American Civil Rights leader, was defending her theories of decentralized leadership. Tensions mounted in the movement when grassroots organizations rejected the ideas of central leadership and non-violence. One such organization, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), founded in part, by the efforts of Ella Baker, became dedicated to Ella’s ideals of decentralized leadership, challenging the auth ority of high profile individuals in the Civil Rights Movement. In this paper I will examine the experiences of these two radicals. Both Ella Baker and Claudia Jones spent their entire adult lives writing, speaking and debating the issues that African-Americans faced. These issues included racist oppression, class hierarchy and the roles of women. However, although they both confronted the same issues, they had divergent philosophies that shaped their political careers. Their individual ideas can be examined in terms of Winston James’ definition of radicalism and Cedric Robinson’s theory of the development of the Black Radical tradition. Although the radicalism of both Ella Baker and Claudia Jones fits within Robinson and James’ definitions, their unique experiences as women helped define their ideas and theories, and transform the role of women in the Black Radical tradition. In Winston James’, Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia, he defines radicalism or radical politics as, â€Å"the challenging of the status quo either on the basis of social class, race (or ethnicity), or a combination of the two.† [2] He goes on to articulate, in terms of the above definition, radicals. According to James radicals, therefore, â€Å"are avowed anti-capitalists, as well as adherents of varieties of Black Nationalism.† [3] Included in this definition are those who have attempted to unite anti-capitalist and nationalist thought. Though James examined Black Radicalism in terms of Caribbean migrants in the United States, his definition could be applied to native-born African-Americans as well.

Sexism in the Media

What comprises sexism and feminism? Do sexist images in the media have an impact on women and girls? And, what are the broader political issues here? I am hoping that we can reframe the debate around sexism and nudity in the media in a way that makes sense for socialists. We’re all probably aware of sexist representations in the media from newspapers and magazines to the movies, TV and radio. For example, Rolling Stone magazine didn’t used to be a soft porn magazine, but it is so common now for female musicians to be in soft-porn poses on its cover.Howard Stern, the radio DJ, is always asking his female guests and callers what they are wearing. Stern focuses heavily on women’s physical attributes for the titillation of his male listeners. We also see many movies each year where the female characters are there solely to support and gratify the male characters. Magazines often show only pieces of a woman, such as her legs, or torso so that women are seen as pieces of a human being, reduced to only body parts, which are usually hyper sexualized for male stimulation.The currently popular TV show Desperate Housewives has a predominantly female audience, but tends to appeal to male viewers with story lines involving the women in their underwear or locked out of their houses nude. Soft-core pornography is the staple of many mainstream men’s magazines such as Maxim. In the past decade the decline of the mass movement, and the capitalist’s promotion of escapism, has been at the cost of increased degradation of women in the media. Women’s MovementWebster’s Dictionary defines sexism as â€Å"attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles† or â€Å"discrimination or devaluation based on a person’s sex. † According to Webster’s, this word came into usage in the period of 1965-1970 and was modeled after the word racism, which itself came into use in the 1865-1870 period, duri ng the revolutionary days of Reconstruction in the South. The timeline of the creation of the word sexism gives us an idea of the dramatic change in the consciousness of women in the 1960s and 70’s, which was directly influenced by the civil rights movement.However for a word with such a short history, a mere 40 years later, capitalism is trying to make women believe that sexism no longer exists. In my research for this introduction, I came across discussion of something termed â€Å"post-feminism† which argues that the old ideas about what is sexism and who is a feminist no longer apply. That it is not sexist, but merely ironic, that naked women are used in advertising such as the TV ad where Nicolette Sheridan from Desperate Housewives dropped her towel in front of a football player to get more men to watch the NFL.The idea is that women are now in control of their bodies and that to object to the use of a nude woman in an advertisement is actually an attempt to repr ess that individual woman’s sexuality, or an expression of prudishness, and not a comment on the exploitation of women for financial gain. The Repackaging of Sexism & Feminism Feminism is being repackaged and portrayed as a repressive police force telling women what not to wear, how to have sex and not allowing women â€Å"to live their personal lives without the constraints of a rigid ideology,† as one post-feminist writer put it.On the positive side women, and especially young women, are more confident about their sexuality, but for some women this liberation is expressed through the assumption of some of the roles, attitudes and sexual behavior previously more common among men. This is what one so-called feminist writer described as a shift from the old ‘victim feminism’ to the new ‘power feminism. ’ In fact the shift is away from challenging the old male-dominated status quo and toward finding a place within it.Christine Thomas in her arti cle The New Sexism writes about this shift in feminist thinking. She writes about the recent trend of the increased acceptance of strip clubs and lap dancing club; â€Å"Lap dancing, it is argued, is empowering not exploitative because, when ‘dancers’ can earn as much as $800 a night, they’re often earn better money than the men they’re stripping for. As one student told the BBC’s Inside Out program: â€Å"I work when I want to. I make the amount of money I want to, and if I don’t feel like it I can quit.No-one is pushing me to do it. † â€Å"But contrast this with the comment of a regular frequenter of lap dancing clubs: â€Å"It makes me feel like a king to be sitting there with all these women surrounding me, giving me loads of attention. Nothing beats the thrill of calling a woman over, sitting her down and talking to her, knowing that if you give her money she is going to take all her clothes off. It’s great to have that kind of control, that power, and it’s an ego boost to have all girls competing with each other to dance for you. â€Å"However empowered individual dancers might feel (and of course not all dancers are well paid) lap dancing itself promotes the idea that women are not thinking ‘whole’ beings but body parts – objects available for men to control and enjoy. † 1 This new ‘feminism’ also represents a shift from a collective to an individualistic approach to women’s equality. If a given woman feels oppressed, feels exploited, or feels demeaned, it is because something is wrong with her. Perhaps she is not aggressive enough or not motivated enough.She has not figured out how to advance within the current system. When women buy into the basic concepts of capitalist culture, the new â€Å"feminists† imply, as many doors will open for women as for men and they will no longer be victims. The new ‘post-feminism’ also ar gues that the male dominated empire is crumbling and that more women than ever are now in positions of power. However, we know who these powerful women are: Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Clinton, and Condoleeza Rice. They actually represent a step backwards for women’s equality.Condoleeza’s promotion to Secretary of State reinforces the illusion that racial and gender discrimination no longer exists and that failure to succeed is only the failure of individuals to take advantage of their opportunities. Her work for the Bush administration is helping to increase the attacks on all workers, women and men, which in turn especially increases the burden economically on women. Her promotion represents no change whatsoever for the status quo and for the reality of working class women across the United States. How Equal are We? Women today still consistently make less than men for fulltime work in the same jobs.In statistics from 2002, nationally women average 78% of men’s pay for all jobs. Among the highest paid professionals (doctors and lawyers) women only make from 58-76% of men’s average pay and they make up about a third of the workers in these jobs. On the other hand, those jobs that are predominantly occupied by women such as cashiers or child care workers; women make about 95% of men’s wages. But the average weekly wage for men and women is very low at $250-$300 per week. Also, traditionally unionized jobs like nursing and construction have higher average weekly wages and women make about 91% of men’s pay. 2However, the startling fact is that in the Bureau of Labor Statistics information from 2002, out of hundreds of job categories, there is not a single job where women make more money than men do. There are also a radically higher proportion of women than men living in poverty in the U. S. For many American women, violence is also a nasty reminder of the inequality in this society. Estimates of non-fatal domestic violenc e against women range from 1 million to 4 million a year with nearly 1 in 3 women experiencing a physical assault from a partner in adulthood. Women have a 10 times greater likelihood of being victimized by an intimate than men.Also, 33% of all women murdered are murdered by an intimate partner. In fact the leading cause of death among pregnant women is not complications from pregnancy, but murder. 4 The sexist representations of women in the media are a direct reflection of this economic and social inequality. But these images also serve to reinforce the lower status of women not only through showing us as a commodity to be packaged for men’s enjoyment, something to be controlled, but also by directly undermining women’s self-esteem and emphasizing the unattainable ideal of a ‘perfect’ woman. Up to 80% of American women are issatisfied with their appearance. Much of the marketing of the ideal woman is targeted at women directly. Women’s magazines, both in articles and advertisements (and it is often difficult to distinguish the two) carry a lot of ideas about the ideal woman. In addition 1 out of every 3. 8 television commercials carries some sort of â€Å"attractiveness message. †5 Media Images and Girls The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that 82% of all cosmetic surgical procedures are performed on women. The most common procedures are liposuction, breast augmentation, nose reshaping and eyelid surgery.In the years from 1992 to 2003 total cosmetic surgical procedures increased by 192% with breast augmentation increasing by 657% and liposuction by 412%. 6 Not only are women reshaping their bodies in record numbers to try and fit some type of female ideal, but girls are influenced by this pressure as well. Some 81% of ten year-old girls are afraid of being fat and 51% of 9 and 10 year-olds feel better about themselves if they are on a diet. Of normal dieters, about 5-6% will progress to partial or full sy ndrome eating disorders. 7Eating disorders often start for women in their teen and pre-teen years, and represent an extreme attempt to control one’s body. It may not seem such a distorted priority to young girls to achieve the perfect body through self-punishing starvation or vomiting when record numbers of adult women are voluntarily subjecting themselves to invasive surgeries. Now this process is being accelerated and normalized through TV shows such as Extreme Makeovers and The Swan. Here, mostly women are shown going through a series of major cosmetic surgeries.In The Swan a prize goes to the best makeover. Capitalism sends mixed messages to women that only create anxiety. Their perfect woman is young, thin, and never has acne. However, the unhealthy food big business pushes at us makes this perfect woman even more unattainable. Not only do they profit from selling us this bad food, but the food itself almost guarantees that we will need to spend more money on cosmetics, dieting, surgery, or antidepressants if we buy into this ideal woman concept. We can’t talk about sexism’s effect on women without also iscussing its effect on men who are also damaged by it. From boyhood, men are sent the message that women are here for their pleasure and that they are primarily commodities for their consumption. If this idea is completely internalized, it makes men unable to connect with women in any but the most superficial way, and cuts them off from a deeper understanding of both themselves and women. Just as the oppression of women has forced women in general to develop a more skillful understanding of human relations, so too male privilege tends to stunt men’s relationship skills.Also, for men that have themselves experienced abusive upbringings, it makes them more likely to be trapped into attempting to control women through physical or emotional abuse. Sexism and Capitalism’s new Moral Divide In the 1984 movie, This is Spinal Tap – the fake documentary about an English heavy metal band, a female record company executive lets the band members know that they have concerns with the band’s album cover. They feel that the image of a naked woman wearing a leash and dog’s collar is sexist. â€Å"Sexy,† one of the band members says, â€Å"what’s wrong with being sexy? †There is enormous confusion today surrounding this difference between what is deemed sexy and what it sexist in the media. The recent media hype around the Janet Jackson breast exposure incident and the uproar over the NFL commercial I previously cited are examples of how this discussion is being spun in the media: as the relentless sex-oriented focus of popular culture verses the purity of family values. In an era where some women are losing access to services that help them control their bodies reproductively, we are now seeing the control of images of women’s bodies as an issue in the media.The new ‘feminists’ would have us believe that the ultimate control of an individual woman’s body belongs to the woman herself and so the images are not discussed in the context of sexism. The liberals argue that a woman’s naked body is no big deal and can’t we be mature and realize that it’s just a woman’s body; failing, like the guy from Spinal Tap, to distinguish between sexy and sexism. The family values coalition argues that it is damaging to children to be exposed to nudity and the subject of sex; making it appear that any outrage is due to prudishness.The argument goes that these are the opposing interests in the discussion – leaving little voice for most people. Is it possible that this divisive construct is promoted by the media itself to obscure the real issue? The real issue is the exploitation of a woman’s body and sexuality for the purpose of selling products: magazines, TV shows, movies, football games. If we unders tand it this way, then we have a way to object to the objectification of women without falling into the trap of prudishness.We can condemn CBS and the NFL not for showing us Janet Jackson’s breast, but for exploiting her desire to further her career and the captive audience of viewers to boost ratings, which in the end makes more advertisement money for them. Capitalism typically creates and exploits divisions for the purpose of undermining working class solidarity. Sexism undermines the solidarity between men and women. By failing to point out capitalism’s role in this issue, we can allow a new threat to class solidarity to take root. This non-class based division, created by the media, the so-called â€Å"moral divide. A New Mass Movement The current trends in the media represent a step backwards for women in the struggle against sexism and exploitation. This is another facet of the global phenomenon, regardless of gender, of working class people being attacked more fiercely by the capitalist class. The current onslaught of sexism, besides undermining class solidarity, also serves capitalism by expanding markets for diet and beauty products and for surgery. It also represents a huge drain on the resources of an individual woman.With her self-image and self worth constantly under attack, it is no surprise that some women have fallen into an individualistic, superficial, self-absorption, spending less time fighting to change the workplace and the community. Especially with the failure of working class and women’s organizations to fight on concrete issues that are important to women. However, just as in the 1960s, a mass movement gave birth to the women’s movement and sexism even started to be talked about, so too a new mass movement of workers that confronts capitalism will also confront sexism. Working class women will be at the fore of such a movement.In fact, women play a key role in many community struggles. LMV has been involv ed in the Campaign for Renters Rights a direct action group in which women took the leading role in fighting off Section 8 housing cuts. 8 In the 70’s we saw how differently women could be treated in the media with real stories about real women. There was a trend toward increased realism in TV and film including the portrayal of women. In the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore a working class woman who is a single parent stands up against everyday sexism. The central character is a woman who is strong, funny and insightful.The scarcity of movies like this since the 70’s with strong female characters confirms the degeneracy of not only the popular media but of capitalism itself. Socialism, on the contrary, will not only achieve material equality between men and women, but also allow both men and women to better explore their own individuality, and break free of the base superficiality that market capitalism promotes. January 2005References 1 Christine Thomas , The New Sexism, Socialism Today Issue 77 Sept 2003 2 The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex, 2002 annual averages. Domestic Violence Statistics, District of Columbia Coalition Against Domestic Violence at www. dccadv. org More stats from National Domestic Violence Hotline at www. ndvh. org. 4 Kim Curtis, Murder: The leading cause of death for pregnant women. Associated Press April 23, 2003 5 National Eating Disorders Association at www. nationaleatingdisorders. org 6 American Society of Plastic Surgeons at www. plasticsurgery . org 7 National Eating Disorders Association 8 For more on this struggle see www. laborsmilitantvoice. com

Inflation and Unemployment Essay

Recently, the United States of America has been bombarded with a great financial crisis. Many companies resulted to bankruptcy forcing the owners to close their businesses. Other companies had lay-off some workers to lessen the operating costs of their business. Few other companies resulted to cutting the employee’s benefits to avoid laying-off and closure. Workers earning below marginal income resigned from their job in the hope that they could find another job which pays better. Among these responses, the most notable problem is the increase in the rate of unemployment. In a report from Bureau of Labor Statistics (2009) among the 2,309 population in Iowa only 1,602 are employed while 62 are jobless in 2007. In 2008, from 2,325 members of the population, 1,607 are employed while 69 are jobless. Measuring the employment-population ratio of Iowa residents aged 16 years and above, the rate of unemployment was at 69. 4 percent in 2007 and 69. 1 percent in 2008 (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009). Meanwhile, the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2009) reported that the unemployment rate in Waterloo-Cedar Falls Metropolitan Area rose at 8 percent in February 2009 whereas the jobless rate was recorded at 4. 9 percent. This is relatively high as compared to unemployment rate in 2008 which was at 3. 9 percent and in 2007 which was at 3. 7 percent (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009). State inflation has been identified as one of the major factors that contributed to the increased number of the unemployed. Inflation refers to â€Å"a process in which the average level of prices increases at a substantial rate over a considerable period of time† (Grolier Encyclopedia, 1995, 150). This implies that more money is needed to buy a certain amount of products and services. In Keynesian term, the relationship of inflation and unemployment has been described as: Wage costs are among the costs that rise in response to higher pries. When unemployment is low, employees can old out for full compensation for the higher prices, and raises above that. When unemployment is high, however, the employees will have to settle for less, and so costs do not rise as fast as prices when unemployment is high. (cited in Inflation and Unemployment). Adopting this term in the case of Waterloo-Cedar Falls, the high price of goods and services lead to increase in the number of unemployment since the companies are forced to cut down their human resources to adapt to the increasing prices of goods and services that caused high costs in production. There are also times in Waterloo-Cedar Falls when high unemployment caused high inflation yet the production cost did not increase as fast as the prices. In this situation, high employment is caused by low labor wage. Since the wage is low, the demand for product and services is also low forcing the companies to increase their prices in order to compensate for the low demand of products and services. Analyzing the relationship between inflation and unemployment the following factors are said to contribute to the increase or decrease of the two variables: wage as part of production costs, level of demands and supply, and cost of goods and services. Depending on the movement or behavior of these factors, the level of inflation or unemployment will either increase or decrease. Yet, it does not always follow that when unemployment is high; inflation is also high or vice versa. There are other instances when unemployment is low yet the level of inflation is high or vice versa. Again the increase or decrease in level of the two variables depends on the above mentioned contributing factors. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls, however, tried to address the problems of inflation and unemployment by creating job opportunities for its residents. As expressed by Bob Seymour, Cedar Falls community services manager and economic development director, in an interview by Jim Offner (2009)† â€Å"Obviously, we’re not immune to what’s going on nationally, but we’re pleased that we’ve been able to see some expansion and new-project interest in Cedar Falls right now. The university obviously keeps us on an even keel, and I think our business community has learned to be more diversified and in a better position to weather these down times. Projects like Target Corp. ’s new perishables distribution warehouse and retail developments in Cedar Falls also are helping the city withstand national trends. † (cited in Offner, 2009). This solution however is applicable only for a short period of time. To really solve the problem of inflation and unemployment, Waterloo-Cedar Falls should implement a demand managing policy wherein the government and private sectors will be required to learn how to manage demands in supply (both of labor and product materials) and demands in product and services according to economic situation. Such management is needed so that the people of Waterloo-Cedar Falls will be trained to expect the worst consequences of increase or decrease level of inflation and unemployment. References Grolier Encyclopedia. (1995). Inflation. In U. S. Grolier Encyclopedia of Knowledge 10, 150. USA: Grolier Incorporated. Mc Cain R. A. 2009. Inflation and Unemployment. Retrieved April 24, 2009 from http://william-king. www. drexel. edu/top/prin/txt/AS/where1. html Offner, J. (2009). Local jobless rates among best in state. Retrived April 24, 2009 from http://www. wcfcourier. com/articles/2009/03/11/news/breaking_news/doc49b7a3bf91f75482515049. txt U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009a). Over-the-year change in unemployment rates for Metropolitan Areas: Monthly rankings, not seasonally adjusted. Retrieved April 24, 2009 from http://www. bls. gov/web/laummtch. htm. U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009b). Regional state and unemployment, 2008 annual averages. Retrieved April 24, 2009 from www. bls. gov/news. release/pdf/srgune. pdf.

Wound Healing

The third phase of wound healing is granulation phase, which takes place to repair the damaged cells by regenerating new cells. This phase consists of different subphases, which can last up to 4 weeks in the clean and uncontaminated wound. These sub phases do not happen in discrete time frames but constitute an overall and ongoing process. The sub phases are â€Å"fibroplasia, matrix deposition, angiogenesis and re-epithelialization† (Cho & Lo, 1998). The first sub phase of granulation process is fibroplasia. In days 5-7, fibroblasts have migrated into the wound, laying down new collagen of the subtypes I and III. In normal wound healing, early type III collagen predominates but is later replaced by type I collagen. Tropocollagen, which is the precursor of all collagen types, is then transformed within the cell's rough endoplasmic reticulum, where proline and lysine are hydroxylated. After tropocollagen transformation, disulfide bonds are established, allowing 3 tropocollagen strands to form a triple left-handed triple helix, termed procollagen. As the procollagen is secreted into the extracellular space, peptidases in the cell wall cleave terminal peptide chains, creating true collagen fibrils, which mark the hallmark of fibroplasia. After fibroplasia, matrix deposition takes place. In matrix deposition, the wound is first suffused with GAGs and fibronectin produced by fibroblasts. These GAGs include heparan sulfate, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, keratan sulfate, and proteoglycans. Then, proteoglycans bond covalently to a protein core and this contributes to matrix deposition. Later, angiogenesis takes place. Angiogenesis is the product of parent vessel offshoots which is known as new vasculature. The formation of new vasculature requires extracellular matrix and basement membrane degradation followed by migration, mitosis, and maturation of endothelial cells. Basic FGF and vascular endothelial growth factor are also involved in the modulating angiogenesis. Finally, re-epithelization occurs with the migration of cells from the periphery of the wound and adnexal structures. This process commences with the spreading of cells within 24 hours. Leter, division of peripheral cells occurs in hours 48-72, resulting in a thin epithelial cell layer, which bridges the wound. In addtition, epidermal growth factors play a key role in this aspect of wound healing (Lynch, Colvin, ; Antoniades, 1989). The last phase of wound healing is remodeling. Remodeling process takes place after the third week, whereby the wound is altered constantly. Constant alteration of wound can last for years after the initial injury occurred. In remodeling, collagen is degraded and deposited in an equilibrium-producing fashion, resulting in no change in the amount of collagen deposited in the wound. In normal wound healing, the collagen deposition reaches a peak by the third week after the wound is created. Then, contraction of the wound takes place following collagen deposition. Wound contraction is an ongoing process resulting in part from the proliferation of the specialized fibroblasts termed myofibroblasts, which resemble contractile smooth muscle cells (Deodhar ; Rana, 1997, para 3). Wound contraction occurs to a greater extent with secondary healing than with primary healing, whereby it leaves a scar in socondary healing. By the 12th week, maximal tensile strength of the wound is achieved although the ultimate resultant scar has only 80% of the tensile strength of the original skin that it has replaced (Brunner ; Suddarth, 2008, p. 38). In brief, the process of wound healing constitutes an array of interrelated and concomitant events of hemostasis, inflammation, granulation and remodeling.